Never, Could I Ever
by justboredokay
Summary: Team 7 has a history and it ain't simple or pretty. From childhood friends to teenagers with...certain needs. Still, what could you do with someone whom you swore you couldn't get close to?


Prequel

---

_Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura_

_Age: 6_

He first saw her after school when he was walking home slowly. She was on a bench in a brightly colored dress (now he couldn't recall if it was red or pink) with dango drooping out of her hands. It was neglected as she wiped furiously at her eyes. She was otherwise _cute _as he would have probably described if not for the purplish red swells around her eyes.

Sasuke, as sweet as he was as a little boy, was not particularly comfortable with approaching strangers, especially not _girls_. He planned to walk by with his eyes on the ground as quickly as possible. However, that was not how she _made _things happen. Sasuke bumbled along, not paying attention to anything except for gaining distance between him and the girl. Suddenly a stick of dango with a few specks of sand stuck on to its sticky texture appeared before his face.

"Do you want this? I-I was planning to eat this but…I'm not h-hungry," the girl hiccupped.

Not really knowing how to refuse Sasuke sighed and accepted the sweet. He stopped in the middle of the road to show that he would eat it by taking a big chunk out of the sticky ball. He tried to neutralize his expression but there were unknown substances stuck to its surface that made him gag. After a few hesitant chews, he swallowed the whole thing, wondering if he was going to cheer the girl up by dry heaving in the middle of the street.

"So…why were you crying?" he asked quietly.

She looked at him gratefully, as if she had wanted to tell someone all her troubles but was too afraid of being a bother.

"My-my parents are on a mission. Whenever they go, they always leave me-"

Sasuke widened his eyes and said, "My brother is on a mission right now too! I'm not really worried that he won't come back because he is so strong but I don't want to admit it but I kind of-"

"With my aunt. And she's _so _mean. She won't let me buy anything other than dango for snack time."

Sakura's mouth sagged at the thought, apparently ignorant of Sasuke's shocked expression.

"You're parents are gone and you're sad because you're aunt is _mean_?"

Sakura's mouth parted as she looked at him with a fearful expression, "I-"

"Your parents might _die _and you're crying over a stupid _snack_?" Sasuke raised his voice and shouted.

At that statement, Sakura's eyes filled with big, leaky tears and her chin was suddenly scrunched like a prune.

"D-Don't_ say _that! They won't…they won't…_die_! T-they _can't_. Y-You're mean, you're so mean," she gasped.

Sasuke regretted his words immediately. He _never _wanted to cause her face to go like that…ever again. Not only did she look uglybut her wide teary eyes made him extremely uncomfortable.

"They probably won't die," he started, "You know they work in teams, and other very, very skilled people. That's what's important! My brother taught me. Teamwork is a really smart tactic. So nobody is out there their own…"

He paused to see how his approach was going, and luckily him, she seemed to have calmed down and now was looking at him with a rather admirable light.

"Really?" she asked with a soft, happy voice.

"Well-yeah," Sasuke felt shy and awkward all of a sudden. Why was she looking at him like _that_? Like he was some kind of a savior?

"I have a couple of books at home about missions. You can come over and look at them if you want. They have really good pictures," Sasuke looked away, trying to make the moment pass.

"Wow! Yeah I definitely want to!!!" Sakura shouted excitedly. She put her arms awkwardly around his neck and squeezed really hard.

"Thanks! You're the best!" she yelled over her shoulder as she ran home.

-

-

A day later they exchanged names.

A week later they became friends.

A month later they became inseparable.

-

-

"You know, its not exactly fair that you get perfect grades without trying," Sakura pouted at Sasuke as they sat down under _their _tree to eat lunch.

"I do try!" Sasuke protested.  
"Well you have Itachi to help you," Sakura conceded, "You're _sooo_ lucky."

"He's never there when I want to train!" he cried, "It's like he doesn't take me seriously! And otou-san is always busy too."

"You know what would be really cool?" Sakura smiled slyly, "If we could try that mask again."  
"_The _mask?"

Sakura nodded.

"Why are you so obsessed with it?"

She blushed and looked away, huffing with anger.

"You know its my dream! An-bu. Doesn't the name sound cool? And to have a brother who was one too! Such a nice brother…"

"Yeah…"

Secretly Sasuke really, really loved wearing the mask too, but it was _his _brother, not Sakura's. So he was slightly possessive of his brother. He hardly got enough time with him as it was, and he's letting Sakura touch his belongings?

Then he felt bad and retaliated.

It was Sakura…the Sakura he couldn't survive school without, and lonely afternoons with just him and okaa-san in the house.

"Let's go afterschool."  
"Cool! Can't wait."

She turned around as the bell rang. A cute little wave which Sasuke returned with a quiet smile. So what if she shared what little connection Sasuke had with his brother? She was his best friend, his _only _best friend, and he was _her _only best friend, he was sure of it.

-

-

This little heaven…won't it last?

The sunshine basking their soft, unbroken skin and their innocent breaths stroking each other's cheeks and every smile, every gesture.

So childish, but hey, they're _children_.

-

-

One day, Sakura made a new friend…

Several girls who were jealous that Sakura was so close to Sasuke closed in on her during recess. Messy fighting, pinching, and hair pulling ensued. It wasn't particularly ugly, but it was mean. They called her names she couldn't stand, again, pulled at her long pink hair and poked at her…large forehead.

One girl pulled out a pair of squeaky scissors, when a boy ran towards them and pulled Sakura away.  
"Hey!"

"What gives? Mind your own business!"

Who was this person? Why did he help her?

After pulling her away from the girls, he stood straight and puffed out his chest.

"Hi! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm going to become the Hokage!"  
"That's why I helped you," he explained, "Hokages have to do that kind of thing."

"Oh…and I like you," he added unnecessarily, and blushed.

Birds chirped, sun shined and trees rustled.

"You're the one always getting into trouble!" Sakura blurted without thinking. His sunshiny face wilted a bit. He clenched his fists, loosened them, then clenched them again. Her feet shuffled in the dirt.

"But I think you're funny!" Sakura reconciled, "And thank you, for, you know."

He smiled back, sunshine returning.

-

-

Two worlds held separate. Two worlds that shared one girl.

One where they raced around the Uchiha compound and played around the dock and ate carefully assembled bentos.

One where they ran around the forest and explored places such as the Hokage mountain and ate ramen or ices from street vendors.

-

-

_Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto_

_Age: 8_

It all changed, one day, when Naruto decided to join Sasuke and Sakura for lunch.

He just plopped down on the ground next to Sakura and cried, "Sakura-channn I'm hungry. Feed me!"

Sakura frowned and smacked the boy, but still handed over her pink lunch box. She ignored the raised-eyebrow look that Sasuke was giving her.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked curtly. He did not _appreciate _someone randomly mooching off of Sakura.

"Who are _yoouuu_?" Naruto retorted back annoyingly.

"Sakura, why is he sitting with us?" Sasuke directed towards Sakura.

"He…He's my friend," Sakura murmured.

"That's right!" Naruto jutted out his chin at Sasuke as he wrapped his arm around the embarrassed girl.

"He looks like an idiot," Sasuke said decisively, and looked at Sakura only, ignoring the fact that 'he' was right there.

"Sasuke-kun!"

"I'm NOT AN IDIOT!" Naruto growled as he shoved Sasuke back. Sasuke, not catching himself quickly enough, fell flat on his bum.

"Why you…"

The two boys started pummeling each other until Sakura somehow managed to stop their fists from colliding with each other's faces.

"Right," Sakura said breathlessly as they finally began to settle down, "Are you two alright then?"

"_What?_" Two voices said simultaneously.

"Isn't that what boys do? Fight and become friends?"

The two boys narrowed their eyes at each other but didn't say a word.

From that day on, the three had lunch together, the two boys spoke to Sakura but never to each other. It wasn't perfect but…she was happy.

-

-

Happiness you say?

Well it can _never_ last…or it wouldn't be life!

_Then came the night that tore it all apart._

-

-

A slaughterhouse...that was the only way the Uchiha District could be described. A slaughterhouse. Sasuke was found unconscious on the street with dead bodies around him. At first they feared for the worst, but heard his faint breathing and brought him to the hospital.

He woke up in the middle of the night; panic at first then the fear creeping back into his whole body.

He couldn't stay in the hospital room. The rooms were closing in on him, the whole world crashing on to his body. Was it real? Were they all _dead_?

He ran down the empty streets, his own footsteps amplifying and scaring him. And he was confronted by the yellow tape…the yellow tape that seared his eyes that made it hard to breathe that made it hard to _live_…maybe just die, die _die._

-

-

-

-

-

A few days later, on the dock where they used to play.

"Sasuke-kun," she breathed behind him. She was wearing a white cotton dress with simple, soft corners, and small trills of ruffles along the neck and hemline.

When he turned around, his face twisted in a way that Sakura couldn't understand. He no longer looked like the Sasuke she played with, ate lunch and competed with. There was no spark of imagination in his eyes or twitch at the lips of mischief.

"Sasuke-kun," she repeated, less assured than she was before, "I'm so sorry! I really tried to visit you in the hospital."

"I wasn't _in _the hospital." He didn't understand why he said it, but he knew he was going to hurt her, and that would make him feel better.

"…Yes you were! I saw the third hokage and he told me no visitors even though I said I was the closest to you," Sakura argued. She looked at him, confused at why he was lying about something like this.

"Why would you say that?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"I just thought that…I mean to see you…," Sakura mumbled.

"We're not close, we're not close _at all_," he shouted, voice rising considerably. He ignored the step that Sakura took backgrounds and only stared at her face angrily. She was now flushed an odd red, eyes shining brightly with part of her dress fisted in her palms.

"Sasuke-kun, please, I know you're sad, but I'm still your friend," Sakura's voice as she held out her hand.

Sasuke took one look at her hand and pushed it away.

"Aren't I?"

He looked at her teary eyes and desperate expression. Why was it so hard for him to reach out and accept her help? Why couldn't things go back to the way they were? Wasn't it enough that she was willing?

"No."

The sun was setting ad birds were flying back to their respective homes. The lake glittered like molten gold and two lone figures stood on the dock. The girl hunched over slightly like she had been punched in the stomach, and the boy leaning forward in a confronting stance.

The knot in his stomach was winding itself tighter and tighter, his heart swelling painfully against his lungs.

"We're _not _friends. You don't know me at all." The knot loosened, "And I don't_ want _you to." The knot loosened again. Never mind that his heart continued to swell and beat abnormally at the sight of Sakura's state of confusion and hurt.

"You've always been too nosy, and _annoying _and _weak_."

The corners of her lips twitched downwards and her frame began to shake, her face pale.

"I don't want you here. Go hang out with your _stupid_ friend Naruto, see if I care." Sasuke's stomach had returned normal, and he felt something spreading through him. He felt fortified, strong, and in control. There was no reason to stop, not when hurting her made him feel so good. So he plowed on, even though he felt sick and voices inside his head were telling him to STOP.

"No, no, no…You couldn't have meant that," Sakura's face pulled into a fake smile, causing the tears to overflow and pour down her cheeks, "I'll come back tomorrow, when you're feeling better!"

"I don't want to see you tomorrow," Sasuke said curtly.

"Or ever."

He heard the sob in her throat and decided to end it. The final words were being crafted in his young mind to cause the most pain possible, because clean breaks were for cowards.

"Sasuke-kun, _please_," Sakura pleaded, nose overflowing with snot and her words thick.

"Let…let me be your friend."  
"Let me be here for you. I'll help you through anything."

The end was coming, he could feel it. It came in the form of chilling dread and regret that made him shudder and covered his arms with goosebumps. It was the realization of what he had done, said that pushed him over the edge.

"Stop being so annoying. I've made it clear that I don't need you."

The only person that ever reminded him to smile, and that life shouldn't be lived by the single-mindedness he felt was needed to catch up to Itachi.

Sakura's eyes widened and her lips formed a placid smile.

Sasuke couldn't smile as he said goodbye. He learned that it was easiest to pretend that you didn't care.

-

-

The sky is so big, Sasuke thought one night. The stars must be lonely. Even though they look like they're in clusters, they're actually so, so far away.

The days kept getting longer, and he felt lonely every year the Sakura season came and went.

-

-

-

-

-

Somehow, when they turned thirteen, they were thrown together by fate again.

"Team 7 will be, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura's throat locked and she couldn't say anything in return when Naruto congratulated their luck. Some luck, she hadn't spoken to Sasuke since the day he tore her apart on the dock. She hadn't tried to make contact, but that was a long time ago,

Sasuke tried not to care, honestly it wasn't that big of a loss. She was the typical teenage girl; loud, obnoxious and completely superficial.

_No, she wasn't really like that_, a quiet voice told him, but he decided to ignore that voice. After a few meetings, he realized that what he did years ago came back and kicked him in the face. He was clearly the odd one out, as Sakura always opted to sit next to Naruto, spar with Kakashi or Naruto, came to the bridge in the mornings with Naruto…She became so dependent on him that many wondered if the two were dating. But Naruto saw through her actions. Her lingering gazes and sighs, all directed towards not him, but Sasuke. She, somehow, still cared for him, more than he knew.

The strange thing was that he found himself bonding with Naruto and coming up with a common ground despite Naruto's excellent relationship with Sakura, and his own butchered one. He thought back to the first time that they fought each other. Perhaps Sakura was right; boys became friends after they established a hierarchy or rather, equality.

After their first mission together, the problems of separation disappeared. They moved, worked, and thought as a team now, regardless of what had transpired before.

After they became genin, Sakura saw the Sasuke's face morph into that same twisted darkness from that night five years ago. History was repeating itself. She had to stop another fight again, this time she could've died if Kakashi hadn't intervened in the last minute.

-

-

-

-

-

The last night Sasuke would be in Konoha…

"Sasuke."

Her voice, addressing him with the same desperation. Why was she following him in the middle of the night? She wasn't supposed to _care_.

"Don't leave."

Sasuke refused to turn around.

"Sasuke, please. I know you think I'm weak and stupid, but please listen to me. From the strict viewpoint of a kunoichi and team member…I need you to stay."

He experienced the same two symptoms, but this time, he wasn't sure if he wanted to relieve his own pain or Sakura's.

"Why?"

"W-why? Because I…I…"

"…If you go to Orochimaru, you'll get hurt for sure. I won't stand it if you get hurt."

"Is this what a 'kunoichi and team member' thinks?" Sasuke replied sarcastically, finally turning around to face Sakura.

"Yes, Sasuke, yes for god's sake, that's all that you'll let me be," Sakura blurted out.

"What?"

"I'm trying to keep within the boundaries ok? I'm trying…"  
"What boundaries?"

"When you said…you didn't want me as a friend…"  
Sasuke couldn't understand why she would take his words seriously after all these years. He turned around and kept walking.

"Sasuke-kun! Don't go or I'll scream!" a shrill voice rung out from behind him. That affected him…she hadn't called him that since they were eight. Did she still…? He kept walking, just to test her.

"Please, Sasuke …," she cried, then in a softer voice.  
"I love you."

Sasuke felt his heart drop to the pits of his stomach. She didn't know that, but somehow, he felt like she knew that her statement affected him. There was no way he could leave now, not when the only person he had ever hurt so deeply was giving him a second chance unconditionally.

"Sakura…"

"What I said years ago, I still mean it. I can't be close with anyone."

Sakura looked down tears falling quietly.

"But I didn't mean for you to…take those words seriously…

You're not dumb…

Y-you're not…weak."

Sakura cut in, "Sasuke, I don't need you to apologize. It's nothing compared you just staying."

She was toying with his emotions, stupid, _stupid _emotions he didn't even know he had. She walked towards him and hot flashes of warning blared in his mind. They were standing very closely and he could feel her erratic breathing.

"Sasuke, you matter to me the most, more than anyone else. I promise I won't become a hindrance to you. You can grow strong in Konoha, we'll all help you, if you want it."

"If you leave, I will have nothing left…"

Suddenly Sasuke felt very empty. He knew he couldn't leave, after all, she cared for him the most, and he cared for her the most too.

They used to be best friends.

And now…

"Except for Naruto of course," Sakura giggled and she sniffled.

A new motive arose. He couldn't let that idiot win her over. It was Sasuke and Sakura, their _own _system of mutualism, no one else.

"Go back to bed."

"But-"

"Do you want me to walk you?"

He was different. She trusted him and somehow _knew_ that he was going to stay.

"No, thank you Sasuke."

Fuck the boundaries, the avenger bullshit, she tilted her chin and kissed him softly on the cheek before she backed off.

The next day, he was at the bridge, bright and early, and she walked up next to him, alone.

* * *

a/n: haha guys...i know...another story? but that very, _very _long period that i was off this site, i'd been writing random tidbits, whatever fit my mood and this came up ^__^  
COMMENT OR DIE  
jkjk i just wanna know what you guys think :)


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